American Legion Supports Homeless Veterans' Program

John Badger (right) chats with Charlie Brennan. The two share concerns about the need for awareness and help for homeless people living in Connecticut. Photos by Annie Gentile.

John Badger (right) chats with Charlie Brennan. The two share concerns about the need for awareness and help for homeless people living in Connecticut. Photos by Annie Gentile. (Annie Gentile)

Annie Gentile - ReminderNews

When you think of war veterans, the thought of homelessness is not usually the first thing that comes to mind. Yet, many veterans fall into that sometimes invisible category of people - the kind of people that live under bridges, in alleyways, and in makeshift shelters hidden in the woods.

There are homeless shelters, of course, though never enough beds to go around. The South Park Inn at 75 Main St. in Hartford is one of those shelters, and since 1984, it has been assisting people to improve their life situations with temporary shelter and supportive services.

“Back in 2007, the VA moved out of Hartford to Newington, and we found there was a gap in services,” said Brian Baker, assistant director at the Inn. As a result, the Inn began providing services focused specifically on homeless veterans. A weekly, two-hour Thursday drop-in center was added whereby representatives from various veteran agencies meet individually with veterans to assess and assist them with their needs, and 10 of their 33 beds in their transitional living program were reserved for homeless veterans.

On Saturday, May 31, Post 80, Sons of the American Legion in Enfield, sponsored a Veteran Cook-Out fundraiser to support the South Park Inn and its homeless veteran programs.

“I’ve known Brian forever. I first met him at the Immaculate Conception Center on Park Street. We worked together in shelters and we would go out together looking under bridges and in the streets for homeless people,” said John Badger, founder of the Hartford Homeless Outreach Team. Badger said they would reach out to those who were homeless to bring them warm clothing and try to talk them into coming in out of the cold. “[Baker] was the one who found this need and created this pilot model program with the VA,” Badger said. “He took it from a thought to a state model.”

Besides raising money and awareness of the needs of homeless veterans, the cook-out also brought together a host of people from a variety of different organizations who work to help find solutions to homelessness and the needs of veterans.

During the cook-out, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-2) spent some time talking with John Mrosz, a volunteer van driver with the Disabled American Veterans organization who spends up to six days a week shuttling veterans from across the state to and from their VA medical appointments in Newington and West Haven. Mrosz also brings veterans to the Thursday night drop-in center at South Park Inn.

“Fortunately, here in Connecticut our veterans are not experiencing the huge backlogs to get medical appointments like we’ve been seeing in the news in other parts of the country,” said Courtney, referring to the VA scandal that has made headlines in recent weeks. “The West Haven VA has bought $55 million in outside medical services and they use those [outside] doctors to supplement their services. The biggest issue here is transportation - getting vets to and from their appointments,” he said. He gave high praise to Mrosz and others like him who do what they do. “This guy is a hero. What he does is a labor of love.”

Tina Inferrera, a psychiatric coordinator who works with veterans at the South Park Inn, said people often don’t understand how dangerously close so many people are to homelessness, and while they assist many who are chronically homeless, there are many more they see that are “episodically homeless” - those who are just one paycheck, one doctor’s bill or a car repair away from losing their place to live. “We have about 118 men, women and children in our shelter each night, and there is always a percentage of people from Enfield in the mix,” she said. “We have 15 veteran beds in our shelter and we help develop a case plan for mental health, substance abuse and other needs. The veterans at our shelter have always been special to us to begin with,” she said.